Google Play app beta program continues to expand with Twitter

The folks at Twitter are the latest in a group of app developers to take advantage of the Google Play app beta program, this allowing users - friendly bug-seekers, to take part in an early release schedule. This program works quite simply - just sign up through a Google Group, agree to be a tester, and download Twitter as (relatively) normal. From there you'll be getting features before the rest of the public - with the bugs to prove it.

This early release program is designed to help app creators show off their wares before they're ready for prime-time action. Where in the past, developers would have had to - and did quite often - release one app for testing, then a second app as a final version in the Google Play app store, now they've only to work with this initiative. This program works especially well for those apps that've got final versions on the market already, aiming only to send out updates as they evolve.

The process begins for twitter at the Twitter for Android Experiment group in Google Groups. There you'll need to go through the quick process of joining the group and downloading the app - and agreeing to help with the cause. The cause here is not just Twitter getting the opportunity to show off their fun new features early - it's Twitter trading that opportunity for public help on the everyday use side of things.

For your information, there's also a Facebook for Android Beta Testers group as well as a Snapchat beta program both working with Google Play app beta abilities. Now we've just got to wait for the Android beta for Hawken and we'll all have an awesome time seeing it all well before the release.

If you are interested in seeing more of Hawken from an Android perspective, you'll be interested to know that NVIDIA SHIELD has already been shown off with Hawken for Android ready to roll. It's still out in the wings at the moment, unfortunately - we'll see it soon, hopefully!